Fiction — print. Gallery Books, 2010. 359 pgs. Purchased.
Jonathan Cobb planned to follow the ghost of Henry David Thoreau down Maine’s Allagash River. Instead, he finds himself following a woman named Mary, a former Chungamunga girl and eternal on the water, down the river and through adventures to Indonesia, Yellowstone, and everyday life as a private school teacher.
I picked up this book at a used book sale for two reasons: (1) the beautiful cover and (2) the mention of Yellowstone. I really had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up earlier in the week. Lucky for me, my impulsive selection turned out to be one of the best books I’ve read in a long while.
This is one of those books that you start and know are going to have an emotional impact on you. In this case, I knew this book was going to make and cry and cry it did. The story is breathtaking and poignant; the language beautiful and moving. I told myself I wouldn’t read it on the bus to work less I start to cry. And, yet, I couldn’t resist pulling the book out of my bag and dipping back into this tale. Saying anymore would ruin the story, and I really just don’t have the words to properly describe this book. Please, run not walk to pick this book up.
